Short video of a young pilot on his first glider solo flight

What did our 14-year old do today? Well, I'm heading out to the field for our lesson. After reading a good article about stall training versus stall-avoidance training, we'll discuss that. Also, we'll work on how many hands to use to hold the control stick.

After over 40 years of instructing, this was the first time that I was able to "see" what is really happening in the cockpit during the first solo. Prior, I just had to imagine what was going on while standing at the end of the runway looking up. What I saw in the video is a young man with good focus in his eyes for the tasks at hand (no pun intended for the two-hand question, which will be discussed).

Raul Boerner

Hi Raul, I have a young student 15, about his size that I have been training along with other instructors. He has some strength issues on long flights, 1 hour, and uses two hands on the stick at times. We are training in 2-33s and the stick can be a bit stiff. I think adding to that the nervous reaction of over controlling and the death grip on the stick has an impact on his endurance. I think with more stick time and comfort with his flying that will sort itself out.

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 8:37:03 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Hi Raul, I have a young student 15, about his size that I have been training along with other instructors. He has some strength issues on long flights, 1 hour, and uses two hands on the stick at times. We are training in 2-33s and the stick can be a bit stiff. I think adding to that the nervous reaction of over controlling and the death grip on the stick has an impact on his endurance. I think with more stick time and comfort with his flying that will sort itself out.

Agreed! - Raul

Cool. I just think this kind of thing should be shared openly. YouTube will not restrict you for the music FYI. YouTube will automatically credit the musician and will not let you monotize the video. Might be a better platform for this video...

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:16:23 AM UTC-7, Sean wrote:
Cool. I just think this kind of thing should be shared openly. YouTube will not restrict you for the music FYI. YouTube will automatically credit the musician and will not let you monotize the video. Might be a better platform for this video...

Sean, I will do some research on this. Thank you. - Raul